Thought my inaugural post would cover one of the most underrated beers on the planet. I disagree with most posters who state this is an overly sweet beer and do believe the use of raisin is both subtle and interesting at the same time. I would not call it a brown ale and would classify it In a general fruit/veg category. (323 characters)

Ok ..this beer is complex it has a great smooth taste and for the amount of alcohol in this baby it goes down like butter. Can't rave enough about it You can get this sweet nectar on tap directly at Dogfish Brew Tavern in Gaithersburg Md ..here's the key's ...more Raison Please.. (281 characters)

On tap:Have had this before and was never a big fan, but after done time off I decided to try again. It didn't even live up to its low expectations.

The beer looks just fine, ruby/auburn, quite clear (too much so?), with a nice layer of small bubbles built up. The surface continues to hold the head well into the taste, and lacing is prevalent. Smell is a bit of raisin, but more graham cracker like spice and sweetness.

The taste has some expected strong ale flavors, dark sugar with a hint if molasses, perhaps. There's a hint of copper tinge (that I associate with British bitter beer). I also get a bit of bourbon-poached peach, and almost none if the raisin I expected. There is also a light bite of spice, and an almost equally subdued hops note. More disappointing is the feel - I wanted a bit more body for the lighter flavors I was getting (deeper flavors would've worked as well). The carbonation is also a bigger part of the feel than if expect.

Definitely learned I don't need to try this again, considering the offerings that DFH has. This beer reminds me in its downgrade from previous thinking of how I downgraded the Punkin' Ale. (1,158 characters)

I have had this beer many times and like it a lot so I decided to do a full review. Good looking beer that is wonderful to the nose. Very tasty, rich and full, plus bonus points for ABV versus drinkability. Dogfish hit yet again with this one, I have bought this multiple times and is definitely worth trying. (309 characters)

04/03/12 Brings to mind a dried fruit sweetness, I guess that is the Raisin reference. Enjoyable as a dessert beverage. For those that have a taste for port wine, here's your boy. A slice of a good stinky cheese sounds really good right now.

I had this at a Dogfish Head restaurant the other night and I can say that it is certainly one of the standouts of theirs for me. I didn't have a chance to try Midas Touch or anything too wild, but I quite enjoyed this one along with a precisely medium lamb burger. All in all a good experience from start to finish. A spicy Belgian malt and yeast taste serves to excellently compliment a color and faint sweetness which are not entirely unlike Russian kvass (a beer-like soft drink made from fermenting roasted bread rusks together with a variety of fruits and herbs). Definitely something I would order again or buy in stores. (628 characters)

The beer poured a thick and tawny mahogany color with a thick foam of off white head.

The aroma was equally as thick with deep raisin, plum, fig, molasses, and prune.

The flavors were very complex and very hearty. It started with what I imagined was the green raisin and then moved to a more candied dark fruit. Prune, date, fig and grape took hold as a molasses and chocolate malt finished. The feel was thick and full and it was well woven with the flavors.

This bottle was aged for two years and perhaps added to the character and variety of taste. Overall I found it to be quite exceptional. (636 characters)

A = it is true to label - deep mahogany (dark orange/brown), no clouding but didn't expect that. The head was short-lived and left lacing on the glass for a very little time.

S = As I held it up to my nose, I thought "sherry" probably due to the beet sugar and raisins and 8% alcohol.

T = It is a good, hearty winter brew. I can t aste the fruit and beet sweetness, but also detect a slight smokey/burnt taste. Sugars?

M = Light carbonation and slightly creamy, but with 8% alcohol, only slightly.

O = This is a good hearty winter brew. I would not accompany this with a grilled steak as is suggested by the brewer, but rather a rich flavored, savory stew with a large chunk of crusty homemade dark bread and butter. You need rich fats to accompany this properly. So, also enjoy this with rich, flavorful artisanal cheeses and crusty breads. If pairing with food, make sure this ale won't overpower! (938 characters)

A mini vertical of a properly cellared 2009 and 2013 bottle I got from the east coast. I cellared a lot of beer in 2008/2009 to see what develops and although Dogfish Head is readily available here on the west coast, they stopped distributing Raison D'Être, so I was unable to get another bottle until now. This was not a beer I wanted to put down for more than a year or two, but here goes…..
2013:
Poured into a Dogfish Head pint glass. Pours a medium mahogany amber with a thin, light tan head that dissipates to a thin film and ring around the glass, leaving patchy light lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, dark dried fruit, lightly nutty and earthy. Flavor follows aroma; caramel and bready malt, nuts, raisins, dates, fresh dark fruit. Finishes with an earthy dark maltiness. Medium bodied. A nice domestic take on a Belgian dark beer, closely in character to a dubbel, but sweeter and maltier. Old ale meets dubbel.
2009:
Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a hazy, medium to dark, red-orange amber with a thin off-white head with good retention and light lacing. Rich aroma of sweet caramel malt, dark dried fruit, light cardboard oxidation, similar in profile to a mild barley wine. I'm surprised to see that the years have been quite nice to this ale! The flavor is moderate, but flavorful caramel and bready malt, mellow dark dried fruit (lots of dates and figs), very well integrated and tasty. Body has turned to the heavy side of medium with light creaminess. This is a very nice, creamy, well melded malty ale that most resembles a light, but well made old ale. I had no great expectations from this, and have found that many ales develop too much oxidation flavors ate this age, but this does not. The oxidation notes in the aroma are not present.
Well, I like Raison D'Être and used to pick it up frequently when it was available, but now I wish I had a few more of these in the cellar. I'm going to try to get my sister to haul back a few more. Rating is an average of the two ales; I liked the aged one quite a bit more than the new one, which was still enjoyable. (2,093 characters)

Lives up to the description and pours a deep mahogany. Almost no head with a lot of disproportionation. The nose has notes of raisin and malt but doesn't have much to it besides that. It is decent and delivers what the beer is meant to smell like, but no further phenols. Tastes of malt and raisin but the alcohol destroys the balance, overwhelming the beer. The mouthfeel is good, medium bodied with nice carbonation. Overall just an ok beer. (443 characters)

A: Wonderfully dark and has a deep copper color. The quickly dissipating head was light tan in color. The color does remind me of a dark rich mahogany which is what Dogfish referred to this ale as.

S: It smells sugary and sweet with a strong scent of raisins or grapes. There is a presence of oak and malt and slightly bitter overall. The presence of alcohol makes itself known.

T: The taste is sugary and sweet much like it smells, there is an underlying taste threaded throughout the complexity of the beer that might be coming from the beet sugars. I get a spice note in there as well. The scent and smell translates nicely to the taste. To me I get more of a grape taste than raisins (yes I realize the correlation between grapes and raisins), but it has the taste of a lot of other Dogfish beers that specifically mention that grapes were included in their ingredient bill.

O: I really enjoy this beer, but isn’t something I see myself enjoying on a very regular basis, it is rich, complex and very enjoyable which makes me want to keep it for an “every once in a while” sort of occasion. This is a beer that is a must try for sure.

It is a not pretentious beer. As simple as it is offers amazing and complexes experiences. Poured solidly without excess of carbonating. Dense creamy brownish foam and delicate sweet woody smell. Tasting wise, it give the consistency enough to enjoy every single buds in your mouth some malt and chocolate smooth after taste. Every day beer for everybody. Have annotate that some of my friends (regular ale lovers) find this exemplar very attractive. Making it a nice smooth transition to more mature beers. (507 characters)

Retains subtle sweetness with deep dark fruits and dried fruit/trail mix notes. Beet sugars keep that vegetal note intact, but the boast of fig and raisin flavors have evolved into a complex fruit element that includes plum, date, and dried apricot. More of that intense clove-y phenolic character with a cough medicine vibe. Carbonation is soft-medium and fills out a hefty body mouthfeel. Booze is totally a non-factor. This beer really aged well. I rather enjoy it. (885 characters)

Medium body with fair carbonation. Toffee, caramel malts and raisins in the aftertaste.

An all around solid brew. It's not the biggest, boldest, most complex or best BSDA but this really is a smooth, tasty and easy drinking beer. Good to know that it's year round, available and affordable. (884 characters)

Appearance: A beautiful beer, indeed. Brilliant in clarity, and dark amber in color. The head is a massive off-white cream puff with magnificent staying power. Fantastic for the style. I can't help but give it a top score. Why not?

Smell: Before I read the bottle, I could smell the green raisins (I call them golden raisins). I was perplexed, as it was not a scent I was used to in a beer. Then I read the bottle and was delighted that my sense of smell was so right on! Bright C-hops were nicely balanced with toffee, dates, and toasted malt. Lovely.

Taste: The long lasting foam has a flavor of brown sugar and prunes. As the head settles and the beer warms, it proves itself to be very malt-forward. The complex toasty, chocolate, and slightly roasted malt is highly drinkable, and does not distract from the flavors mentioned earlier. A mild bitterness is most apparent upfront, then relaxes later on. Less complex than some strong dark ales, but in an impressive way: the balance is impeccable, and the malt complexity stands on its own--it doesn't need big helpings of melanoidins and esters to draw one in. There is, however, a slight medicinal flavor that appears to come from alcohol rather than infection, and is somewhat distracting at times.

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel, with medium carbonation. While the body is not thin, there is a watery texture that sneaks in there and detracts from the overall impression. Alcohol warming is light.

Overall: A very well balanced strong dark ale that really showcases malt complexity. There are a few elements that detract from the overall impression, such as the watery texture and the hint of cough syrup in the flavor. Still, a very well done version of the style that doesn't need to try too hard to impress. Would recommend this to someone just starting to get into big beers. (1,841 characters)